Artificial snow featured in nightly shows at mall
By Jake Finch, Correspondent
It was a dark and snowy night when Wesley Lampson got into his first snowball fight at Simi Valley Town Center.
The 8-year-old was on hand for the mall's latest holiday attraction -- manufactured snow that drops from the balcony surrounding the center court area.
"This is so cool," said Wesley's mom, Tracey Lampson, who came to the mall just to see the snow. "He thinks this is real."
The snow is made by Adam Williams, a former magician, from a formula he says is nontoxic and doesn't need to be cleaned up. It will fall nightly at the center through Christmas.
Williams, the founder and creator of Los Angeles-based MagicSnow, said he had used his "snow" in his magic shows for many years when he approached the owners of another Southern California shopping center to produce a holiday magic show complete with snow.
"They said they were really interested, not in the magic, but in the snow," Williams said. "So I went in that first year and created this large-scale snow effect."
That was four years ago, and since then, Williams has retired from performing magic and instead has expanded MagicSnow.
MagicSnow falls in already winter-prone areas, like Idaho, as well as areas that never see a flake drop, like Guatemala City.
This year, Williams teamed up with Radio City Music Hall in New York City to enhance the Rockettes' annual holiday show by dropping snow on the audience. In the past, the producers used confetti snow dropped on the cast on stage. Because MagicSnow evaporates on contact, it can now fall on the audience, Williams said.
"The audience can interact and touch and feel," he said.
An Ohio native, Williams said he knows that for some people, this may be the first time they experience snow.
"It's magic snow, not real snow," he said. "There is an idyllic feeling to what they are seeing. I would hope everyone gets to see real snow, because it's so magical to watch."
Vickie Sherman, director of marketing for Simi Valley Town Center, said while the artificial snow looks real, it doesn't behave like snow, making it an easy choice for the center. It's just cool, she said.
"The more wintry the weather is, the more real it seems," she said.
Williams said while he sometimes misses performing magic, he sees his unexpected career turn as an extension of his magic.
"I still feel at each (snow) show the applause, excitement and reaction," said Williams, who operates his snow machines almost every night at some venue. "What's different about it is as a magician I wasn't great, but doing the snow, I think I make an impact on people and affect their moods."
Snow will fall at Simi Valley Town Center nightly through Christmas. The 10-minute show begins at 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 7 and 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays; and at 5 and 7 p.m. Sundays.
Copyright 2005, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved
Contact: MagicSnow Systems
(310) 289-9852 / MagicSnow.com